Basically looking for a UPS to run the computer in my signature. We live in the countryside and we get power cuts from about 5-10 seconds to a few minutes, just about often enough to be annoying. So I don't need anything with a huge battery life just something that will last a short time for me to save anything i'm doing and switch off the pc. I'm not bothered about any sort of usb interface to shut down the computer automatically as it will only be on when i'm home and I can do that myself. I was thinking of around a £50-£60 limit though I don't know if its possible to even get anything worth buying at that price. I did see this (it looks simple) but I really have no idea on what I need.
Evilbay is good but you'll struggle for £60, you could prob get one for that proce but the batteries will need replacing. I'm not quite sure with UPS wether 400VA means that's the most it'll put out or if thats the amount of power in the batteries.... I think that the one you linked to is 400VA output power not the length it'll last but I could be wrong.
That UPS is only giving you 240w maximum load, so if your system draws more than that, which looking at your specs if you are using any cpu/graphics intensive processes it will, the comp will just cut out (when required to go onto battery)...something like this (405w) would be more appropriate... EDIT: Should say that I use the APC Back-UPS ES700 on a box running WHS and it works well... ________ Park Royal 3 Condo
Thanks for the advice, I just had a quick look at the power consumption test with a gtx460, getting one soon, and thats around 270watts on an 1356 though I have some other add on-cards. So with that and my monitor I think 400 watts is indeed what I need to look at. I can get hold of that larger apc one for around £70 so that may be something to stretch to.
I highly recommend the APC ES700 (405W). I've got 3 of them and they work extremely well. In addition, in a magazine test a few years ago they came out top for surge and spike protection (which was the main reason I bought them) when compared to similarly priced UPS including Belkin. I recently has a PSU fail and it damaged the battery on a UPS that was out of warranty. I contacted APC for advice and they sent me a free replacement battery to test out whether that would fix the problem. It did, highly impressed with the customer care. EDIT: Just remembered. On the system in my sig the battery lasts only around 5 minutes if it's under load.
another thing to consider is that most UPSs arent really designed to cope with frequent power outs. the on-board charges are pretty slow and can take several hours to bring the battery back up to 100%. but if your not home for a few hours out of the day then itd probably do alright.
Most all computers with high end graphics consume about 200 watts. That 270 watt number means it might hit that high for microseconds. Your computer is about 200 watts. So a standard supply for most every computer is 350 watts. (The same suppply may be sold to computer assemblers as a 500 watt supply). Also view the always required label (adjacent to the power cord connection) for other watt numbers - ie for monitor. Then increase the sum for various other 'unknowns' such as power factor. That 350 watt system should be considered 500 watts - a safety margin. One of the 'unknowns' is because UPSes are made as cheaply as possible. Battery life expectancy is only three years. Even car batteries used every day in the worst weather survive seven and nine years. Since UPS batteries degrade so quickly, just another reason why the UPS for a less than 350 watt computer should be closer to 500 watts. 400 watts would be sufficient but marginal (assuming watt numbers you have not yet provided).
